It was only an hour and a half later that they were finally let out of the studio. Dongwoo had offered to buy Myungsin ice cream as a reward for her hard work. 'Hard work' according to Dongwoo equaled trying in vain to fill Sungyeol in on the script. It was difficult. Heck, Myungsin was sure Sungyeol hadn’t processed any of it. Not that she blamed him. He did look like he had a lot on his mind. She wondered whether she could do anything to take away even a tiny bit of his worries. But she was only his co-star, what could she possibly do?

Unfortunately, Hoya had bitterly reminded Dongwoo that he had promised to visit the mall with him today. They were supposed to go look for new sneakers that didn't squeak lamely whenever they dance. Feeling guilty that he had forgotten, Dongwoo immediately sided Hoya and left the responsibility of 'taking care' of Myungsin and her ice cream with Sungyeol. And since neither Sungyeol nor Myungsin minded, they both left the others to go buy their treats (with the money Dongwoo had given them).

“There’s still some money left, right?” Myungsin asked casually, as she tried to keep herself balanced on the edge of the footpath.

“… Yeah, why?” Sungyeol replied, munching on his ice cream cone.

“Let’s spend all of it.” She said, spooning her own ice cream from the cup, strolling at her own comfortable pace that slightly irked the older.

“On what?” Sungyeol asked suspiciously.

“Food.” Myungsin answered easily, giving Sungyeol one of her cute smiles. To which the older couldn’t help but smile back. Then the girl’s phone rang. She quickly fished it out of her pocket and not even bothering to see the caller ID.

“Yes?” She said with a pause, “Okay, unnie.” To Sungyeol’s surprise, Myungsin unexpectedly handed him the phone, encouraging him to take the call with a reassuring nod.

“H-hello?” Sungyeol said into the phone unsurely.

“Sungyeol-ssi.” A woman’s voice rang softly back. “Please look over Myungsin for a while. I’ll pick her up from your dorm later today. Is that fine with you?”

“Uh… T-that’s okay with me… But, I might have to… um, ask manager-hyung…”

“Oh, don’t worry. I already did.” The woman quickly explained. “Just take good care of Myungsin for me, okay?”

“Y-yes.” Sungyeol replied, looking a little bewildered.

“Ah, that will be all.” She added before hanging up. “Thank you, Sungyeol-ssi.”

“Who was that?” Sungyeol asked slightly confused, handing the phone back to Myungsin.

“Manager-unnie.” She smiled, before looking up. “What did she say?”

“Uh… That she’ll meet you at our dorm.” The older cleared his throat and chuckled cheekily. “And to take very good care of you until then.” To which Myungsin laughed.

“Pfft, she treats me like I’m ten.”

“And you’re not?”

“Well, how old do you think I am?”

“… Hm.” Sungyeol gave Myungsin a once over before finally guessing. “Fifteen?”

“What?” She scoffed disbelievingly, trying her best not to roll her eyes. “Hyung, I’m almost nineteen.” Then there was a few seconds of silence, which Sungyeol used to process the information. All the while, noting being called ‘hyung’ instead of ‘oppa’, again.

“Unbelievable.”

After punching in the passcode, a little clicking sound of the lock came from the door. Sungyeol, with grocery bags hanging off his arms, let himself in before turning around gesturing for Myungsin to go in after him. And hesitantly, she did. The boy lead the way to the kitchen, finally placing the things on its counter before telling the girl he was going to use the bathroom.

Myungsin looked around, finding herself liking the place. How she wished she could stay in such a place. Smiling to herself, she absentmindedly began digging into grocery bags and putting the things away, inside the fridge and cupboards. Sungyeol had told her that his dorm would be empty since the members went after Dongwoo and Hoya to the mall. So she'd jumped a little when an unfamiliar voice called out quietly from behind her.

“H-hey.” A that was not Sungyeol's greeted and Myungsin immediately spun around.

“Oh, hey.” She greeted back in a surprised tone, cautiously eyeing the handsome boy in front of her. And then she smiled. “Kim Myungsoo, right?”

“Y-yeah. Park Myungsin.” Myungsoo answered with a shy smile. Myungsin let out a little chuckle before turning back to continue what she’d been doing. She heard quiet footsteps coming her way before the figure appeared beside her.

“I thought you guys went to the mall?” Myungsin asked casually, as Myungsoo pulled out a clean glass.

“Yeah.” He replied, taking a jug of water out of the fridge. “Except me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah um… wasn't feeling that well.” Myungsoo said, to which Myungsin turned to stare. A few silent seconds passed before she spoke.

“You look fine to me.” She said with an innocent shrug. The boy who this was addressed to snorted, while starting to fill his glass with water.

“Where’s Sungyeol?” Myungsoo finally asked and Myungsin noticed him putting too much concentration into pouring the water as he did so.

“Uh. Bathroom.” Myungsin answered, trying to sound as oblivious to the stiffness of the boy as she could. Something didn’t seem right here. Why was everyone so weird today? “Careful.” She immediately said just as the glass of water was about to overflow. Myungsoo jerked, realising what he almost did. Hurriedly putting the jug down, he cleared his throat.

“We used to be close… you know.” Myungsoo started talking, looking a little dazed and uncertain. Which caused Myungsin to turn to look at him. Who was he talking about? She almost frowned as he made it seem like Myungsoo was addressing her.

“Who?” Silence.

“Me and… Sungyeol.”

. . .

Dongwoo wasn’t the least bit convinced when Myungsoo said he was sick and wanted to rest. But like all wise men, the only thing he did was eye the younger boy mindfully as the boy got off the van, making his way into their dorm building. No matter, he’d figure it out sooner or later, Dongwoo thought.

Though, he did feel slightly bad for having to leave Myungsin and Sungyeol to go off on their own. But that was a harmless decision, right? Nothing was going to happen to those two. Dongwoo was sure, by the time he and the members head home, Sungyeol would already be back, safe and sound. And then he would call Myungsin, just to check on her like a good oppa that he was.

“You know what’s so great?” Dongwoo uttered out of nowhere, bringing several of s back from personal thoughts. The only two members missing were Myungsoo and Sungyeol.

“What?” Woohyun automatically asked. Sungjong was strangely quiet.

“The fact that both Sungyeol and Myungsoo got casted in dramas.” Sunggyu sat up, taking slight interest in what Dongwoo had to say.

“What’s so great about that?” Woohyun quoted the air with bunny fingers, dumb written all over his face. Dongwoo rolled his eyes.

“What’s so great is the fact that two of our group members are starring in dramas, which I’m sure, will be epic.” He took a deep breath before adding. “It’s cool that Myungsoo got himself into another teen drama. I mean, it’s expected and he's lived up to people’s expectations. Which is great. But what’s greater, in my honest opinion, is Sungyeol.”

“Eh?” Woohyun muttered confusedly before he could stop himself, earning a look from Hoya, while the others ignored him.

“I know what you mean.” Sunggyu spoke up, quietly. He exchanged looks with Dongwoo before they slightly smiled. Woohyun stared between the two and before he could ask for either of them to explain, Sunggyu continued. “I think Sungyeol is really pushing himself. He’d been having a really difficult time, with…uh, some things.” The oldest sighed, eyeing Sungjong warily in silence. “I know that you all noticed it. And if you did, then you’d also notice too that he is getting better.”

“Actually,” Dongwoo said quietly. “I’m worried that he might be using his schedule to distract himself. Because if that's what it really is, then he’s not really getting better from whatever problem he’s going through.” He paused. “It will just wear him out, you know?”

“Mm, maybe we should just all help keep an eye on him…?” Hoya suggested, looking between the oldest two, who both nodded in agreement.

“And we should keep Sungjong away from Sungyeol as much as possible.” Woohyun mumbled, eyeing the maknae who was seated at the front. “No one likes spoiled oranges.”

“You… and Sungyeol?” Myungsin repeated. She said it with a kind of reassuring smile that she knew would calm people’s nerves. She felt as if the boy in front of her was struggling internally to come to a decision whether to continue. A couple of seconds passed and Myungsoo pressed his lips together, feigning a dismissive shrug before looking away.

“You can say it, you know.” Myungsin cautiously said, not really sure whether she should’ve said anything at all. Unexpectedly, the boy who had been staring at his glass of water turned his gaze towards her. To which Myungsin tried her best not to frown. She couldn’t understand that expression. She couldn’t… She-

“Yeah. Me and Sungyeol.” Myungsoo gave her a small curve of his lips before trailing off after a pause. “And we… I mean, things…”

“…?”

“Changed, I guess.” He gave a slight, half-hearted nod.

“… What happened?” She asked quietly, feeling her heart become heavy. She couldn’t help but feel sad and confused.

“We- It’s… Me. I-” Suddenly, there was a crash from just outside the kitchen. Both Myungsin and Myungsoo whipped their heads around to find Sungyeol cursing under his breath, while examining his own foot. It looked as though he was unaware of the presence of another boy beside Myungsin.

“Myu-” Myungsin watched as Sungyeol glanced up and immediately stopped in the middle of calling either of their names. His widened eyes cautiously made their way between Myungsoo and Myungsin, who both were standing by the sink. “Uh…”

“Um, I guess I’ll go now.” Myungsoo said shyly, looking from Myungsin to the tall boy by the kitchen’s entrances before turning back to her again. “It was nice talking to you.” He smiled half-heartedly and was about to move when the girl took hold of his hand. Myungsoo turned to looked at her questioningly.

“We can talk again, if you want.” Myungsin said softly with a reassuring smile before letting go. She watched carefully as Myungsoo took reluctant steps towards the way out. Sungyeol stood rigidly still and unmoving as the younger boy brushed softly past. Myungsin caught glimpses of Myungsoo lingering just outside the kitchen. She was wondering whether she should say something when he finally decided to stride back to his room.

After she couldn’t see Myungsoo anymore, she turned her attention back to what stood in front of her. Sungyeol. He was staring straight at something above her head. His lips pressed together, his brows slightly knitted and his body tensed. His eyes were blinking rapidly as if they stung. It felt like forever as Myungsin watched him struggle and struggle until she couldn’t anymore. How cruel was she, to just stand there and do nothing. She scolded herself.

“…Sungyeol.” Myungsin walked towards him, tugging at the sleeve of his sweater, and he glanced down at her. When their eyes met, Myungsin felt her heart hit the bottom of her stomach. She didn’t like the look on Sungyeol’s face. She didn’t like it at all. “Don’t do that.” She said, pulling him into her arms and holding on tightly.

Sungyeol immediately wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her sweet-scented hair. He tried to let out a shaky breath, only to have a sob escape his lips instead. And Myungsin felt like she was about to cry. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t going to. She was stronger than this. Someone needed her right now, so she couldn't let herself go. She wasn’t going to cry.

Myungsin couldn’t trust her voice, so all she did was pull Sungyeol closer as reassurance, and used the tips of her fingers to trace his back in a soothing way. How she wished she could have done something more. There must be something she could do to help. It frustrated her when she couldn’t figure out what.

“H-he didn’t even… Look at me.” Sungyeol whispered dryly. He gulped. “We didn’t talk for so… so long… A-and he, he didn’t even…”

A/N: And since I don't think this chapter is ever going to come back on its own, I decide to re-update again.

I'm not going to blame the site since I know the owner tried his best. I'd be upset too if I paid monthly for backups just to make sure the site doesn't lose its content. And then it does lose its content. He should really ask for a refund and change the hosting company. Uh yeah anyways, thanks guys!

PS. I really feel sorry for the guy. He's probably getting hate messages from site users as we speak. :< Poor man.